View source for Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen

{{refimprove|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Friedrich Christian
| full name = {{langx|de|Friedrich Christian Albert Leopold Anno Sylvester Macarius}}<br />{{langx|en|Frederick Christian Albert Leopold Anno Sylvester Macarius}}
| title          = [[Margrave of Meissen]]
| image          = Prince Friedrich Christian of Saxony.jpg
| reign          = 18 February 1932 – 9 August 1968
| caption        =
| predecessor    =[[Frederick Augustus III of Saxony|Frederick Augustus III]]
| successor      =[[Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen|Maria Emanuel]]
| succession =  [[King of Saxony|Head of the Royal House of Saxony]]
| spouse       = Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis
| issue          = [[Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen]]<br>Princess Maria Josepha<br>Princess Anna<br>[[Albert, Margrave of Meissen (1934–2012)|Albert, Margrave of Meissen]]<br>Princess Mathilde
| house    =[[House of Wettin|Wettin]]
| father         =[[Frederick Augustus III of Saxony]]
| mother         =[[Archduchess Luise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany]]
| birth_date  ={{Birth date|1893|12|31|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Dresden]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date  ={{Death date and age|1968|8|9|1893|12|31|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Samedan]], [[Switzerland]]
| burial_date = 
| burial_place =Royal Chapel in Königskapelle in [[Karrösten]] in North Tyrol
| religion = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]]
}}
'''Albert Leopold Friedrich Christian Sylvester Anno Macarius, Prince of Saxony, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Meissen''' (31 December 1893 &ndash; 9 August 1968) was the second son of [[Frederick Augustus III of Saxony|Frederick Augustus III]], the last reigning king of Saxony before the abolition of the monarchy in 1918. Upon his father's death in 1932, he became the head of the [[House of Wettin|Royal House of Saxony]]. He was [[Captain (OF-2)|Captain]] [[à la suite]] in the [[History of Bulgaria (1878–1946)|Royal Bulgarian]] Infantry, and Grand Master of the [[Order of the Rue Crown]], and also a Knight in the [[Order of the Black Eagle]] and Knight Grand Cross in the [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta]].  As head of the [[Albertine branch]] of the [[House of Wettin]] after 1932, he styled himself as ''Friedrich Christian, [[List of Margraves of Meissen|Margrave of Meissen]]''.
 
==Life==
He was born in [[Dresden]], as the second son of King [[Frederick Augustus III of Saxony]] and his wife [[Archduchess Luise, Princess of Tuscany]].

[[File:August Kotzsch - Bildnis zweier Knaben um 1900.jpg|thumb | left | Friedrich Christian (right) and his brother George on a photograph by August Kotzsch in 1900]]
Friedrich Christian was made a [[lieutenant]] in the 1st Royal Saxon Leib-Grenadier Regiment No. 100 at the age of 10, in accordance a family tradition of the [[House of Wettin]].  In 1913, he studied at the Military Academy in [[Dresden]]. During [[World War I]], he served [[German General Staff|General Staff]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].  He received several medals for bravery.  He was very gifted linguistically and was sent on diplomatic missions to King [[Alfonso XIII of Spain]], to Sultan [[Mehmed V]] of Turkey and to Emperor [[Charles I of Austria]].

In 1918, Friedrich Christian was one of several candidates to the prospective [[Kingdom of Lithuania (1918)|Kingdom of Lithuania]].<ref name=s36>Senn (1975), p. 36.</ref> On 13 November of that year, his father abdicated following the [[German Empire]]'s defeat in the [[World War I]]. Friedrich Christian led the Saxon army home from Belgium and France to Germany, where they [[demobilization|demobilized]] in [[Fulda]].

After the end of World War I, he turned to the study of [[law]] at the universities of [[University of Cologne|Cologne]], [[University of Freiburg|Freiburg]], [[University of Wroclaw|Wrocław]] and [[University of Würzburg|Würzburg]].   The subject of his [[PhD]] thesis was [[Nicholas of Cusa]], who contributed significantly to the development of canon law in the late Middle Ages.  While studying in Breslau, he was a member of the Catholic student union
{{lang|de|[[Cartellverband der katholischen deutschen Studentenverbindungen|KDSt.V.]] Winfridia}}.  However, he resigned his membership in 1928 or 1929, because of substantive disagreement.

On 9 February 1920, he joined the ''KDSt.V.'' Thuringia Würzburg.  Here, he met [[Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis|Elisabeth Helene]] (1903-1976), a daughter of [[Albert, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis]] and his wife [[Archduchess Margarethe Klementine of Austria]].  Elisabeth Helene was an honorary chairwoman of the Thuringian Lady Student Federation.  He married her on 16 June 1923 in Regensburg.

After completing his PhD, he became a private teacher of the [[history of art]].  Around this time, his father asked him to take up the management of the family holdings in Saxony and Silesia.

In 1923, his older brother [[Georg, Crown Prince of Saxony|Crown Prince Georg]] renounced his succession rights and joined the [[Jesuit Order]].  Friedrich Christian thus became [[heir apparent]], and when his father died on 12 February 1932, he  succeeded as Head of the Royal House of Saxony

[[File:Karrösten-Königskapelle-Grablege-Wettiner 1.JPG|thumb|Grave site of the [[House of Wettin]], outside the Royal Chapel in Königskapelle in [[Karrösten]] in North Tyrol]]
[[File:Karrösten-Königskapelle-Grablege-Wettiner 2.JPG|thumb|Grave stone for Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meißen, Duke of Saxony]]
In 1937, the family moved to [[Wachwitz Castle]] in [[Dresden]]-Wachwitz, where they lived until 1945.  The castle survived the [[Bombing of Dresden in World War II|bombing raids]] in 1945, and Christian Friedrich took in many survivors.  Later that year, the family moved via [[Hof, Bavaria|Hof]] and [[Regensburg]] to [[Bregenz]], where the two youngest children had been living since 1940.  Their close connections to the [[Allied-occupied Germany#French Zone of Occupation|French]], they were able, for instance, to arrange permission for [[Richard Strauss]] to move to [[Switzerland]].

In 1955, their relatives in the [[Thurn und Taxis]] family helped them find a new home in the [[Untergiesing-Harlaching|Harlaching]] borough of [[Munich]].  Here Friedrich Christian, together with his sons Albert and Maria Emanuel, the [[chapter (religion)|chapter]] of the [[Military Order of St. Henry]], the Association of People from Dresden, and te Munich chapter of the association of {{lang|de|[[Heimatvertriebene]]}} founded the {{lang|de|Studiengruppe für Sächsische Geschichte und Kultur e.V.}} ("Study group for Saxon history and culture"). This study group became one of the largest historical societies in [[West Germany]]. Had he been King he would have been known as Friedrich Christian IV.

Friedrich Christian died on 9 August 1968 at [[Samedan]].  He was buried outside the Royal Chapel in Königskapelle in [[Karrösten]] in North Tyrol.

==Marriage and children==
Friedrich Christian married on 16 June 1923, at [[Regensburg]], Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis (1903–1976), daughter of [[Albert, 8th Prince of Thurn and Taxis]] and his wife [[Archduchess Margarethe Klementine of Austria]]. They had five children:

*[[Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen]] (1926–2012), married in 1962 Princess Anastasia of Anhalt, without issue.
*Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony (1928–2018), not married.
*Princess Anna of Saxony (1929–2012), married in 1952 Roberto [[Saxe-Gessaphe|de Afif]] and had three sons.
*[[Albert, Margrave of Meissen (1934–2012)|Albert, Margrave of Meissen]] (1934–2012), married in 1980 Elmira Henke, without issue.
*Princess Mathilde of Saxony (1936–2018), married in 1968 and divorced in 1993 [[Prince Johannes Heinrich of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Johannes Heinrich of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry]], and had one (now deceased) son.

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen'''
|2= 2. [[Frederick Augustus III of Saxony]]
|3= 3. [[Archduchess Louise of Austria]]
|4= 4. [[George of Saxony]]
|5= 5. [[Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal (1843–1884)|Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal]]
|6= 6. [[Ferdinand IV, Grand Duke of Tuscany]]
|7= 7. [[Princess Alice of Bourbon-Parma (1849–1935)|Princess Alice of Bourbon-Parma]]
|8= 8. [[John, King of Saxony|John of Saxony]]
|9= 9. [[Amalie Auguste of Bavaria|Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria]]
|10= 10. [[Ferdinand II of Portugal]]
|11= 11. [[Maria II of Portugal]]
|12= 12. [[Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany]]
|13= 13. [[Princess Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies]]
|14= 14. [[Charles III, Duke of Parma]]
|15= 15. [[Princess Louise of Artois]]
}}

==References==
* Albert Herzog zu Sachsen: ''Die Wettiner in Lebensbildern'', Styria-Verlag, Graz, Vienna and Cologne, 1995, {{ISBN|3-222-12301-2}}
* Bäsig, Frank-Michael: ''Friedrich Christian Markgraf von Meißen'', Raute Verlag, Dresden, 1995, {{ISBN|3-9804584-0-7}}
*{{cite book |first=Alfred Erich |last=Senn |author-link=Alfred E. Senn |title=The Emergence of Modern Lithuania |publisher=Greenwood Press |orig-year=1959 |year=1975 |isbn=0-8371-7780-4 }}

== External links ==
* {{DNB-Portal|119348144|NAME=Friedrich Christian von Sachsen}}
* [http://freenet-homepage.de/g.leu/mgfrchr.htm Biographical information]
* [http://www.prinz-albert-von-sachsen.de/inhalt/historie/friedrich_christian.htm Biography on the site of the House of Wettin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407160338/http://www.prinz-albert-von-sachsen.de/inhalt/historie/friedrich_christian.htm |date=2016-04-07 }}

== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Wettin]]|31 December|1893|9 August|1968}}
{{S-pre}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Frederick Augustus III of Saxony|Friedrich August III]]}}
{{S-tul|title=[[Rulers of Saxony#Kings of Saxony|King of Saxony]]|years=18 February 1932 – 9 August 1968|reason=[[German Revolution|Kingdom abolished in 1918]]}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen|Maria Emanuel]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Princes of Saxony}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedrich Christian of Meissen, Margrave}}
[[Category:Margraves of Meissen]]
[[Category:1893 births]]
[[Category:1968 deaths]]
[[Category:House of Wettin]]
[[Category:Saxon princes]]
[[Category:Nobility from Dresden]]
[[Category:German Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Lay Dominicans]]
[[Category:Albertine branch]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria]]
[[Category:Sons of kings]]
[[Category:Pretenders]]